LG

LG’s experiment with modular smartphones may have already come to an abrupt end, but if you like the idea then you can still pick up a pretty good deal on the G5 and a small selection of the company’s “Friends” accessories.

B&H Photo is currently selling the 32GB unlocked LG G5 (RS988) for just $449.99. The retailer is also throwing in a LG CAM Plus module, a LG 360 VR headset, a charging cradle, and a free spare battery with every purchase. All of those goodies are worth $297.96 combined, according to the listing, and the whole bundle saves you $200 on the G5’s suggested retail price anyway.

Even if you’re not particularly interested in the modular aspect of the phone, $449.99 is still pretty good for a handset that boasts a 5.3-inch QHD display, Snapdragon 820 processor, 16MP and 8MP dual rear camera combination, USB Type-C port, and a removable 2,800mAh battery. For a closer look at the handset’s capabilities, check out our review and comparisons below.

B&H Photo says will ship out the phone next day while stocks last, and the RS988 model will work on most GSM and CDMA carriers in the US. If you’re interested, hit the button below to check out the deal.

LG may have been relatively quiet on the matter, but India-based retailer Mahesh Telecom has revealed that the LG V20 will be going on sale in India from today. The handset will be priced at Rs. 54,999 ($800) at launch, with a recommended retail price set at Rs. 60,000 ($875), according to the Tweet.

Mahesh Telecom is also offering a selection of buyback (trade-in) schemes, if you want to pick up the handset a little cheaper. The complimentary Bang & Olufsen headphones will also be thrown in for free for those who pick up a LG V20 early.

The LG V20 wasn’t expected to launch at such a high price point in India, a cost more in the region of Rs. 50,000 was anticipated. Unfortunately a sharp decline in the value of the rupee in the past three weeks is likely having an impact on import costs, and LG has apparently been having problems lining up retailer partnerships in the country as well.

For a quick recap, the V20 comes equipped with a QHD 5.7-inch display with a 2.1-inch secondary ticker panel, a Snapdragon 820 processor, 4GB of RAM, and 32/64GB of internal memory. There’s a dual rear camera configuration with a 16MP main sensor and 8MP wide angle lens, a 5MP front facing camera, 3,200mAh battery, Quick Charge 3.0 support, and an impressive DAC for high fidelity audio playback.

For everything else that you need to know about the V20, be sure to check out our in-depth review below. Will you be buying one?

Android 7.0 Nougat is now rolling out to LG G5 owners with T-Mobile. The 1.2 GB download, which includes November 1st’s Android security patches, delivers the stock Nougat features like split-screen mode, Doze improvements and more.

Android 7.0 Nougat update begins its LG G5 rollout on Sprint

1 week ago

This isn’t the first time LG’s take on Android Nougat has been seen – the LG V20 is the phone that launched Android 7.0 on October 20. If you want to check out how it looks, head over to our full LG V20 review.

If you’re an LG G5 owner with T-Mobile you should receive the update notification OTA soon. Alternatively, you can go to settings > general > about phone > update centre > system update > check for update, to see if it’s ready to be downloaded manually.

Android 7.0 Nougat is now rolling out to LG G5 owners with T-Mobile. The 1.2 GB download, which includes November 1st’s Android security patches, delivers the stock Nougat features like split-screen mode, Doze improvements and more.

Android 7.0 Nougat update begins its LG G5 rollout on Sprint

1 week ago

This isn’t the first time LG’s take on Android Nougat has been seen – the LG V20 is the phone that launched Android 7.0 on October 20. If you want to check out how it looks, head over to our full LG V20 review.

If you’re an LG G5 owner with T-Mobile you should receive the update notification OTA soon. Alternatively, you can go to settings > general > about phone > update centre > system update > check for update, to see if it’s ready to be downloaded manually.

Android 7.0 Nougat is now rolling out to LG G5 owners with T-Mobile. The 1.2 GB download, which includes November 1st’s Android security patches, delivers the stock Nougat features like split-screen mode, Doze improvements and more.

Android 7.0 Nougat update begins its LG G5 rollout on Sprint

1 week ago

This isn’t the first time LG’s take on Android Nougat has been seen – the LG V20 is the phone that launched Android 7.0 on October 20. If you want to check out how it looks, head over to our full LG V20 review.

If you’re an LG G5 owner with T-Mobile you should receive the update notification OTA soon. Alternatively, you can go to settings > general > about phone > update centre > system update > check for update, to see if it’s ready to be downloaded manually.

Industry experts have popped up with another batch of rumors for next year’s LG G6 flagship, again hinting that the phone could come sporting iris scanning and mobile payment technology that is designed to rival Samsung Pay. The theory is that LG needs a blockbuster phone packed full of cutting edge technology to help make up for the 800 billion won ($67 million) loss after the launch of its modular G5 model.

LG Pay has been rumored for a while now, and the latest industry chatterboxes are suggesting that the company has developed its own Magnetic Secure Transmission (MST) technology and has dropped its White Card idea. MST technology, which is current used only by Samsung Pay, supports older magnetic credit card machines in addition to modern NFC payment terminals, and would offer LG an advantage over Apple and Android Pay solutions.

“Unlike strong sales in home appliances and television, LG posted historical losses from its mobile communication unit this year. For a rally in shares, the rebound from G6 is important next year.”– Kim Ji-san, analyst at Kiwoom Securities.

About a month ago, LG Innotek announced an all-in-one iris scanning module, but refused to confirm whether or not the module was destined for use in future smartphones. The two-in-one module combines camera and iris scanning technology into a single component, to save on costs and optimize performance. The assumption is that the iris scanning module could be tied in directly with the company’s mobile payment system.

The first smartphone on the market with an iris scanner was the Galaxy Note 7, before it was recalled. The technology will likely reappear in Samsung’s upcoming Galaxy S8, but this delay does offer an opportunity for LG to catch up and compete with the industry leader.

There aren’t many rumors floating around about the LG G6’s technical specifications just yet. A next-generation Snapdragon 835 processor and QHD display seems a likely base, and the company is expected to drop its modular concept for the phone, something this report also claims.

Back in September 2015, Google announced the Nexus 5X (along with the Nexus 6P) that was manufactured by LG. Recently, a few owners of the device have started complaining, as they have been experiencing what appears to be a hardware issue, which causes the phone to get stuck in a boot loop. Not a first for LG!

In cases like these, the normal procedure is to send the phone back to the manufacturer to get it fixed or to get a new/refurbished unit. But seeing as the Nexus 5X is out of production and that spare parts are apparently not available anymore, LG has decided to take a different approach.

See also:

LG V30 will have no ticker, according to Evan Blass (Update: secondary screen to stay?)

4 days ago

According to an email from LG sent to a few of its customers, the company is now offering refunds (of the full purchase price) for devices affected by this issue. As always, this process does take quite a bit of time, as customers will have to wait for up to four weeks to get the refund.

You can check out a part of the official email that was posted on Reddit below:

We're sorry to hear that you've experienced a problem with your LGH790 and appreciate you giving us the opportunity to provide a warranty repair. We have received your device at our repair facility but currently a part to complete the repair is out of stock and is no longer available. To rectify this issue, we would like to offer you a refund for the full amount of your device. That amount will be determined by your sales receipt. Your refund can take approximately 4 weeks to receive due to the holiday.

We have to say that LG is handling this situation quite well. Getting a full refund for a device you have been using for up to a year is something that I think most people could live with. However, it must be mentioned that the LG V10 has suffered bootloop issues in the past, along with the G4, so owners of those affected devices are obviously not going to be quite as happy.

Have you had any issues with your Nexus 5X? If you have, let us know in the comments below.

If you’ve got an unlocked LG V20 and you live in the U.S. you can now unlock its bootloader officially using LG’s bootloader unlock tool. The LG Developer site is quick to point out that doing so will void your warranty, disable certain functions of your phone and may make your device more susceptible to those nefarious types that connive to take advantage of unsecured devices.

If that hasn’t put you off, on LG’s offfical bootloader unlock page you’ll now find an entry for an LG V20 codenamed US996.USA “for the US open market”, which we can only imagine means non carrier-locked devices. The page also has a comprehensive rundown of the process you’ll need to follow if you want to unlock the V20 bootloader.

The process is irreversible, so shouldn’t be taken lightly, but if you’re interested in removing some pre-installed apps, adding some of the excellent apps that only work (or just work better) with root, or want to tweak your V20 in as many ways as you can think of, then take a read of the documentation and proceed.

Will you unlock your V20’s bootloader? What’s the first thing you’d do with a rooted V20?

Best T-Mobile Android phones

1 week ago

Of course, “free” is a bit of a misnomer. In this particular case, if you trade in a qualified phone and sign up for either an T-Mobile ONE or Simple Choice Unlimited plan, you can get one or more of those phones, along with an iPhone 7, and pay just the sales tax up front. Your bill will get credits for 24 months, making those phones free if you stick with it for two years. T-Mobile is also offering people who switch lines to the carrier $200 on a prepaid MasterCard card for each line, up to $2,400.

Some of the other deals in this promotion include a free Gear VR headset and $50 in a Oculus app store gift card with the purchase of a Samsung Galaxy S7 or Galaxy S7 edge, or you can get a free Samsung Tab E or LG Gpad X tablet when you sign up for a tablet data plan (again, you get the tablet free via 24 monthly bill credits). T-Mobile is also selling the Mophie Powerstation Mini for just $9.99 during the weekend, a savings of $50.

Finally, from November 24 to November 26, anyone on a airplane with Gogo Wi-Fi service can get one hour of free Internet, sponsored by T-Mobile. That’s for anyone on those flights, not just for T-Mobile customers.

If you own an LG G5 on Sprint’s network, get ready for a big download. Online reports indicate that the Android 7.0 Nougat update for this smartphone has started rolling out on the network. It appears Sprint is the first U.S. carrier to begin offering this update for the LG G5.

See also:

LG G5 vs LG V10

May 23, 2016

LG first announced that it had started the Nougat update for the G5 earlier this month in South Korea. According to a Reddit post today, the Sprint update has a file size of 1,275.4 MB, so you will likely need a Wi-FI connection to get a smooth and fast download. The kernel version number is 3.18.31 and the software version number is LS992ZV8. Besides the stock Nougat features, this update also includes LG’s own built-in DPI changer, with 544, 640, and 720 options. It also includes the November Google security update.

As usual with these kinds of over-the-air updates, Sprint LG G5 owners could see Nougat available to download immediately or it could take a few days for it to roll out to their device. However, it’s still great that owners of the LG G5 on Sprint can now grab the Nougat update, and it’s likely that the other major U.S. carriers will follow suit in the next few weeks.